MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – The woman accused of causing a fatal DUI crash in Madison County pled guilty in the case.

Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett announced that Jordan Leah Sullivan, 33, of Louisville, pled guilty to one count of aggravated DUI in Madison County Circuit Court.

Sullivan faces up to 25 years in prison and will be sentenced on February 10, 2025. She was taken into custody awaiting sentencing.

On June 24, 2024, Gluckstadt police responded to a car wreck on I-55 North. On scene, they discovered that Sullivan had been driving the wrong way on the interstate and hit another car head on.

Tyra Small-Jackson, a teacher at Nichols Middle School in Canton, was the driver of the vehicle that was hit and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Her father and infant child were also in the car but did not suffer any injuries.

According to Bramlett, officers immediately suspected Sullivan of DUI and located multiple bottles of Fireball whiskey inside the vehicle and smelled alcohol on her. Her blood alcohol content was .241.

Multiple witnesses reported Sullivan was driving the wrong way on the interstate before she struck Small-Jackson’s vehicle. Officers located the liquor store and obtained a copy of the receipt where she had purchased 20 airplane bottles that morning. Bramlett said the officers also discovered text messages where Sullivan admitted to drinking prior to the accident.

Small-Jackson was a Canton native. She was selected as Nichols Middle School’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year and received numerous awards during her tenure in the district.